The invention is directed to an apparatus for squaring an electrical component and testing electrical functioning of the component, particularly in preparation for mounting of the component to a printed circuit board (PCB) by insertion or surface mounting in an automated process.
Insertion, as the name implies, generally involves inserting the leads of a component through the holes of the circuit board and clinching protruding portions of the inserted leads to the underside of the board so as to hold the component in preparation for subsequent soldering of the leads to electrical tracks of the board.
Surface mounting generally involves surface mounting of miniature components, without the need for lead receiving holes at the mounting locations of the circuit board, as by using a dot of glue to hold the component in preparation for subsequent soldering of electrical connectors of the component to the electrical tracks. The thickness of these surface mounted components generally range from 0.018-0.62 inches, with width and length dimensions perpendicular to the thickness generally ranging from 0.040-0.250 inches. The electrical connectors of surface mounting components may comprise: conductive pads which are generally flush with the component body; hemispherical conductive balls; and/or conductive leads protruding from the body. The tips of the protruding conductive leads may extend past or be generally flush with the component body "mounting surface" which generally is parallel to the circuit board top surface when mounted. Since the glue used to hold the surface mounted component in place does not "set-up" right away, components with lead tips extending past the mounting surface were being propelled free of the unset glue by the spring force stored in the leads during placement of the component onto the dot of glue. Hence, the leads of some components have been shortened so that the tips of the leads are generally coplanar with the mounting surface of the component, thus eliminating such "popping" of the components from the circuit board.
Prior attempts to test such surface mounted components automatedly have provided devices which have been unable to reliably handle all of the above-noted electrical connectors. One such prior art device could handle only leadless (conductive pad) components. With another prior art device, components having lead tips generally coplanar with the mounting surface of the component would need to be pressed so firmly onto test contacts and the component would be damaged and/or lateral positioning of the leads relative to the testing contacts would be lost, resulting in unreliable testing.
It is an object of the instant invention to provide an improved tester which provides reliable, repeatable testing of electrical functioning of surface mountable electrical components having various electrical connector configurations as noted above, and which particularly may be part of an automated processing line.
The novel tester comprises jaws for orienting the component about a longitudinal axis of the tester in order to ensure proper positioning of the electrical connectors for engagement by test contacts of the tester. Each component usually has a mounting surface engageable with a dot of glue to hold the component on the circuit board, and the novel tester provides means for generally preventing tilting of this mounting surface relative to the tester longitudinal axis.